I'm Not Stupid
by TiGGs96
Summary: Knuckles can't help but think on how his "friends" treat him.


I'm not stupid.

The very word sends waves of anger though my core. My breathe gets heavy, a tick forms on my brow, and I do the best I can to calm down.

Are the surface people this ignorant? Are they this near sighted? It's not my fault that I take offence to your insults!

Idiot

Hot-head

Dumb

Rash

Moronic

Stubborn

Gullible

I've been called all this and more but only one of them is true.

I'm not an idiot. I know multiple tongues through my personal adventures into ancient temples and from the library my people had. Most of the books were either written by my people or were from other rival tribes that my people have kept from their raids. Books created more than 4000 years ago, before the Nocturnes Clan were sent into the Twilight Zone. Do they actually believe that I only sat and waited on my island for someone to attack whenever I'm not needed on the surface? Anyone would go mad!

I'm not hot-headed, at least not to the degree that most view me as. Yes I snap when someone is insulting me, yes I can hold grudges, yes I like to brawl, but I don't go into a rage every single time. I admit to having a short fuse, on the surface where the other Mobians dwell. But on Angel island, I can _feel_ the earth, the air, and the chaos energy around me. I hardily ever lost my cool when I'm home. (Except when something is wrong at home…) I know when my temper is active, and I personally do all I can to calm myself down. And it is very difficult to do so when _someone_ keeps calling me _stupid!_

I'm not dumb. Time has changed, before the texts describe that one's intelligence derives from there personal wisdom, or on how they fight in battle. Growing up alone, I had no one to compare myself too, other that the wisest ones who wrote the scripts I read. However, now intelligence is based on mathematics, science, and IQ. Tails and Eggman are the peak of intellect, with their skill in robotics and mechanical skills. And apparently I'm at the bottom of the pyramid at not knowing how a household toaster works. Can't the people realize that I've only been living on the basics without the use or knowledge of "common tech?" I take pride that my clan were such fierce fighters, whenever I think of using technology for any means, I can only think of the Nocturnous who used their skills to equalize their combat prowess with tools that any unskilled fighter could wield.

I'm not rash. Whenever I jump into a battle, I first check the enemy's skill and fighting style. If the enemy's unknown, then there is no guarantee that one will have the pleasure of researching before hand. I know what I'm doing in a fight, if I didn't then I would not be standing at the end of a fight with only bruises to show for it. Not to mention that my preferred method of fighting is hand-to-hand close combat. I need to charge in to get close to my enemies in order to neutralize the threat. If I can't initially, then I have to try again. Make sense?

I'm not a moron! I didn't grow up the same way the others have! I had no access to the tools they used! All I had was my own experience along with whatever was on the island. Any time I went on the surface, aside from fighting along with Sonic, I've been treasure hunting ruins. Which, might I mention, does have modern technology to run its traps or puzzles. My skills rely on combat and survival. I know how to patch someone up through my own scuffles and injuries, I know how find water in the wild, I know how to wield the chaos powers within the Master Emerald itself. I get so frustrated that these so called "evolved" species claim that they know more than anyone else. So sure, I may not know what a+b=c means, but I know how to stop a thief by using only sticks, stones, and my own two fists.

I'm not stubborn, again, not in the way most see me as. I am the last of my kind, the last of the Knuckles Clan, so of course I'm going to honor my heritage. I refuse to have Tails help with my "surprisingly efficient" traps to ensure the island's safety. My people know they work over decades of success so I'll keep using them. I don't wish to live the pampered life on the surface, my clan lived in their modest huts and religious shrines so I plan on staying there. I wish to live the rest of my life as if I were still amongst my own kind, once I leave this world all that will be left of my heritage will be in texts hidden on and island in the sky. Now that doesn't mean I won't bond with my allies when I'm invited, when the Knuckles Clan had allies they were part of a whole that protects one anther, and an echidna protects.

I am gullible. I know I am gullible, ever since Robotnic and Sonic ventured onto my island. I haven't had any contact with anyone else during my 15 years of life, so I had no idea when someone was using me. (That and the mosaic that depicted the two rivals wasn't too keen on details. I had no idea on who was good and who was bad.) And yes, I suppose that giving a second chance for Eggman to redeem himself was rather idiotic of me to do. If one was cold-hearted to force living creatures into maintaining a robot body, then that person was too far gone. But was giving Shadow a second chance acceptable considering his circumstances?

I don't know, I just don't understand how the others think, the surface people. Without the interference of petty fights, subtle manipulation, and access to man-made resources, you tend to think less on the superficial stuff. I understand that my was is different and strange in their eyes like their ways are to me, but I try to make sense of it. Amy cares about her looks to impress Sonic, Cream is able to come along in our adventures because her mother trust us to bring her back safely, Tails is Eggman's unofficial rival in mechanics to show off how much better their uses and purposes are, etc. But some still get me confused, how Sonic is able to have a self appointed "duty" yet still would rather go out on his run rather than to train, how Shadow is able to wield the chaos emeralds even though he's technically a man-made animal, how Rouge can manage to be a reliable enough of an ally in battle but still be the shifty jewel thief you keep your guard of for. I'm still learning, and I've come to accept that I may never know how the people below work.

I'm gullible, not stupid.

And I hope that some my allies will understand that, only then will I call them friends in my mind.

* * *

Sonic the Hedgehog and it's character belong to SEGA.


End file.
